OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 111-132 Feature Articlejaltcue.org/files/OnCUE/OCJ2-2articles/OCJ2-2-GQ-111-132.pdf · create a lesson that would utilize convergence goals or ... illustrated

OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 111-132

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John R. Gunning teaches English in the department of Humanities at Gifu Pharmaceutical University. He has both CELTA and SIT Certifi cations, the SIT Mentor Teacher Trainer Certifi cate and an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Birmingham, England. He is currently researching task-based curriculum and syllabus design, tasks related to motivational theories and teacher education and professional development. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Steven E. Quasha teaches English in the department of Modern Management at Sugiyama Women’s University. He holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from San Diego State University and Applied Linguistics-TESOL from Macquarie University. His research interests include language assessment, task-based learning, and professional development. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Gunning, J. R. , & Quasha, S. E. (2008). In tune with receptive listening skills. OnCUE Journal, 2(2), 111-132. Copyright © 2008 John R. Gunning and Steven E. Quasha. OnCUE Journal, ISSN 1882-0220, is available at http://jaltcue-sig.org one year after publication date.

Feature ArticleIn Tune with Receptive Listening Skills

John R. GunningGifu Pharmaceutical University

Steven E. Quasha

Sugiyama Jogakuen University

AbstractIn this study, an expectancy value model developed by Pintrich and De Groot (1990) was applied to determine the extent that students adjusted to self-regulated learning using listening tasks. Participants consisted of 24 intermediate-high level students at a national pharmaceutical university. Findings revealed that students require both individual planning time and clear teacher instructions to remain motivated to effectively complete tasks. Respondents that maintained high learning expectations, similar to Pintrich and De Groot’s fi ndings, persevered with challenging tasks since they placed high expectations on themselves. While the project was conducted to garner deeper understanding of

Gunning & Quasha, “In tune with receptive listening skills”

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student views regarding L2 tasks, it also indirectly created an action plan that helped the authors develop better intermediate level tasks using music lessons.

本研究では、Pintrich and De Groot (1990) による期待価値理論を利用して、学習者がリスニング・タスクを通じて、どの程度自己制御学習に適応できるかを調査した。研究プロジェクト参加者は国立の薬科大学における中級の上レベルの英語学習者24名である。本研究によると、学習者がタスクを効果的に遂行できるだけの高い動機づけを保つためには、個々に考える時間と、教師からの明確な指示の両方が必要であることが明らかとなった。Pintrich and De Grootの研究結果と同様、学習期待の高い学習者は、自分自身に対する期待度が高いため、困難なタスクであってもやり遂げた。この研究プロジェクトはL2タスクに対する学習者の考えを理解するために実施されたものだが、同時に、筆者らが音楽のレッスンを利用した中級レベルのタスクを開発するのに役立つアクション・プランを間接的に促すものとなった。

IntroductionThe term “self-regulated learning” is cogent for the modern EFL

university classroom in Japan. Teachers are increasingly confronted with incongruous student levels and classroom motivation often hinges on educators’ ability to harness positive student energy. Faced with this academic milieu, the authors of this study chose to apply the expectancy value model developed by Pintrich and De Groot (1990) to determine the extent that our students adjust to self-regulated learning through the use of listening tasks. Prior research (e.g., Fincham & Cain, 1986; Paris & Oka, 1986; Schunk, 1985) suggests that students who believe they are capable of completing a task utilize more metacognition, apply cognitive strategies, and are more likely to persist at the task. It was for this reason that we explored whether using music lyrics in small groups would replicate the positive fi ndings elucidated by Pintrich and De Groot (1990).

BackgroundOne of the main issues concerning the expectancy model was the

linkage between individual differences in students’ motivational orientation and their cognitive engagement and self-regulation in the classroom. Previous fi ndings support the notion that the key component


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to improve academic tasks within the classroom is to boost students’ self-effi cacy beliefs (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Borkowski, Weyhing & Carr, 1988; Garner & Alexander, 1989). With an increased sense of accomplishment, we posited that this will lead to a gain in cognitive strategies carried out by students. Initial needs analysis taken from our communicative English courses revealed that students prefer to hone their English listening skills through music, so we targeted this area since it could be readily modifi ed to develop varying degrees of confi dence among participants.Most EFL teachers are familiar with the implementation of interactional

activities and convergent goals as ideal classroom tasks (Pica, Kanagy, & Falodun, 1993). Perhaps better known as information gaps and jigsaw activities, they represent the prototypical task-based activities used in many, if not most, EFL textbooks. However, rather than offer our students a continuation of these time-honored tasks, and possibly risk demotivating students since they have already encountered them numerous times, we instead opted to introduce a music task-based activity based on the “three Cs” of convergence, collaboration, and competition. In defi ning the ideal music task, our objective was to create a lesson that would utilize convergence goals or shared information, promote a stronger collaborative nature for participants—including some scaffolding—and offer a modicum of competition to help motivate students. A wide body of literature exists regarding the effi cacy of using

music to help motivate EFL learners (e.g., Domoney & Harris, 1993; Gugliemino, 1986; Little, 1993; Murphey, 1992). Most of these authors tend to agree that music opens up a myriad of possibilities for learning. Theoretically, Schoepp (2001) explored Krashen’s 1983 affective fi lter hypothesis as one reason for this positive effect:

A weak affective fi lter means that a positive attitude towards learning is present. If the affective fi lter is strong the learner will not seek language input, and in turn, not be open for language acquisition. The practical application of the affective fi lter hypothesis is that teachers must provide a positive atmosphere conducive to language learning. Songs are one method for achieving a weak affective fi lter and promoting language learning. (Schoepp, 2001, Affective Reasons section, para. 6)

Orlova (2003) illustrated her approach that includes the 3 stages of


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preparatory, forming, and developing for music-oriented lessons. This methodology should appear familiar to TESL trained teachers since it employs the listening triad of pre-while-post tasks. Briefl y stated, this approach features a photo or picture at the pre-listening stage that serves as a schema activator for the activity and promotes prediction as an objective. Next, during the while stage, students listen to the material and can target global and discreet listening skills depending on class needs. Based on many experiments using music for EFL learning, Cullen (1999) wrote that the pedagogical effectiveness of using bottom-up and top-down processing during this stage proved highly advantageous for achieving L2 learning objectives. Finally, in the post-listening stage, participants can then apply newly acquired vocabulary or L2 enabling skills in a productive (either communicative or written) task. One of the main tenets for using music in the EFL classroom, and the major reason this study was conducted, was to provide teachers with the ability to shape the music task to students needs and utilize this fl exibility to extend beyond the use of lyrics as a mere means to an end.

Theoretical BackgroundExpectancy-Value Model and Task-Based Learning and TeachingIt is believed that motivation has the potential to shape a second

language learner for life. Oxford and Shearin (1994) ascertained that motivation directly infl uences the use of student L2 learning strategies, it affects whether they will interact with native speakers, decides the amount of input they eventually receive in the target language, and will then—through perseverance and dedication—determine the general profi ciency levels and subsequent language skills long after language study is completed. It is no surprise that motivation remains such an important aspect of L2 language learning. Consequently, it is crucial for teachers to understand student motivation during language tasks and activities that are sequenced into the lesson plan (see Appendix A). In the following section, we will attempt to match the theoretical framework for student motivation, based on an adaptation of a “general expectancy-value model of motivation” (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990, p. 33), to an activity sequenced in a receptive skills lesson, utilizing a task-based learning and teaching approach. An important aspect of the expectancy-value model is centered on tasks, as expectancy-value theories hold that people are, for the most part, goal oriented. The theory


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assumed that motivation to perform various tasks is (a) the product of the student’s expectancy of success in the task and (b) the value the student attaches to success in that task (Dörnyei & Skehan, 2003). A more detailed defi nition of the model proposes three motivational components related to tasks when learning. Pintrich and De Groot (1990, p. 33) defi ned them as: (1) The expectancy component, which includes students’ beliefs about their ability to perform a task. (2) The value component, which includes students’ goals and beliefs about the importance and interest of the task. (3) The affective component, which includes students’ emotional reactions to the task.

The Expectancy Component: Can I Do the Task?As previously mentioned, Pintrich and De Groot (1990) discerned that

students who believe they are capable of successful task completion use more metacognition, apply additional cognitive strategies, and are more likely to persist at the task than students that harbor negative feelings towards task completion. This general model proposed that self-concept beliefs and task diffi culty are considered together to produce an expectancy judgment. In other words, if a student has a belief that she is good at listening to English and that the tasks during the receptive skills lesson were at an optimal level of diffi culty she may have higher expectations for English. This seems to convey that students who can accomplish the tasks remain steadfast and do not give up, indicating a higher level of motivation evident by task completion. Skehan (1989) characterized this as the Resultative Hypothesis—a non-theoretical view of motivation—that stipulated the rather logical scenario where learners that generally do well tend to persevere and those that do not will become discouraged and exhibit less effort.

The Value Component: Why Am I Doing the Task?Research implied that students who perform tasks that they believe

are important, interesting, and involve actual learning will possess higher levels of motivational orientation towards the tasks themselves (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). In the case of the Four Corners Dictogloss task utilized for this study, the students were engaged in the tasks to complete the next set of accompanying tasks. Students were informed that the information gathered in the individual dictogloss would be used for the next task—a re-write of the song in small groups—fi nally followed by an entire class activity that would encompass peer correction


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and subsequent comparisons of respective versions. Lightbown and Spada (1999) observed that remarks teachers make about forthcoming activities could lead to higher levels of interest on the part of the students. In this regard, Pintrich and De Groot (1990, p. 34) discovered that informed students, cognizant of the reasons they are involved in the task, engaged in “more effective effort management.” The present research results showed that most students felt the tasks sequenced for this receptive skills lesson helped them complete the next set of tasks more successfully (see “Results” for further discussion).

The Affective Component: How Do I Feel About the Task?The third question asked students how they felt about doing the

tasks taking into account a variety of affective reactions, which may include pride, anger, and guilt (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). This model places considerable emphasis on test anxiety and the link it has to metacognition, cognitive strategy use, and effort management. For this research, however, we placed more emphasis on gauging students’ perceptions regarding the receptive skills listening tasks. In particular, we were interested to determine how our students felt about the tasks regarding (1) their positive and negative feelings towards them, (2) whether they liked or disliked them, and (3) whether they felt the fi rst set of tasks helped them successfully accomplish accompanying tasks later in the lesson. Ellis (1994) proposed that metacognitive strategies and effective strategies are related more to indirect learning strategies, which many learners appear to underutilize. With our study, we were interested in correlating our students’ affective reactions to tasks based on Pintrich and De Groot’s (1990) model.

The Tasks: Four Corners Dictogloss and Student SurveysBefore discussing the three components mentioned in the previous

section, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of a ”task“ and provide a description of the task used and consequently sequenced into a listening skills lesson plan. Willis (1996) defi ned task as:

a goal oriented activity in which learners use language to achieve a real outcome. In other words, learners use whatever target language resources they have in order to solve a problem, do a puzzle, play a game, or share and compare experiences. (Willis, 1996, p. 53)


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MethodologyThe Class: English Conversation IIThis section will provide a description of the course and profi le of

the students. The course aim focuses on improving general English language conversational skills. It is a four skills course primarily taught utilizing a task-based methodology. The course is held once a week for 90 minutes.

Learner CharacteristicsThe sample included 24 students from a public pharmaceutical

university in Japan that has a co-educational student population of approximately 650 students with the majority completing the English requirements for graduation during their fi rst and second years. For this study, there were 14 males and 10 females. Within the sample of students included a range of abilities. We have observed, however, that the students’ level can be categorized as intermediate-mid to intermediate-high. The students are required to take eight English courses between the fi rst and third years. In the fi rst year, students take English Conversation 1, English Conversation II, Practical English I, Practical English II and Technical English for Science I. In the second year, students are required to take English Conversation III and Practical English III. In the third year, students take Applied Technical English for Science I. Table 1 summarizes the following learning attributes regarding levels and motivational value of the participants.

The Dictogloss Task and Follow-Up ActivitiesThe fi rst task used in our study was a problem solving activity that had

students reconstruct the lyrics of a song based on all the words, phrases or expressions they could recall from the fi rst listening. The lesson began with a pre-task photo talk based on a poster from the movie Stand by Me. The rationale for this step was to develop schemata based on the idea of friendship. After approximately ten minutes of talking, the students were placed into groups of four and given a sheet of A4 paper. Next, they were instructed to not write anything in the center of the paper and draw lines creating four triangular writing spaces in each corner of the paper. As the song Stand by Me was played, the students simultaneously quickly jotted down any words they could pick up from the song in their respective corner of the A4 sheet. This represented the dictogloss element of the study.


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Once the target stanzas of the song were completed the students chose a group secretary. Following this step, students were asked to reconstruct the song, based on their respective notes in each triangular corner, with the secretary writing the collaboration of lyrics in the center of the A4 paper. After rewriting the song, each group’s A4 sheet remained on their respective desks while group members circulated around the room comparing the various adaptations of the dictogloss. After checking each other’s lyrics, each group returned to their original A4 dictogloss and made any necessary revisions based on the recently viewed comparisons. At the end of the fi rst listening, students were given a gap-fi ll handout with some of the lyrics missing. The song was played a second time and students individually wrote in the missing lyrics. After this, the students participated in a “board rush” activity. This

activity consisted of the selected group secretaries, whom when given

Table 1 Background of the Pharmaceutical University Students

Educational Background

Students have studied English for about six years: three years at junior high school and three years at high school. This is set by the Japanese National Board of Education. All students have taken English Conversation I, the prerequisite to English Conversation II.

Learning Purposes

Gain improved skills in general English communicative abilities and improve TOEIC test scores.

Culture Mono-cultural: all students enrolled are Japanese.

Motivational Value

Intrinsic Value: Through teacher-student interaction, previous classroom action research on good learners revealed that students seem to be highly motivated to improve communicative skills; generally good learners, regularly attend class, and seem interested in English.Extrinsic Value: English courses are compulsory and students are expected to obtain a score of 525-550 on the TOEIC.

Abilities

Through ethnographic fi eld notes, students have been recorded as being on task, complete assignments, and generally perform at above average level on tests and exams. Language ability: Based on Richards (2001). Profi ciency Descriptions: students are intermediate-mid to intermediate-high.


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the start signal by the teacher, rushed to the board in unison and wrote their answers to the missing lyrics in group designated columns. The board rush activity added another element of fun to the activity and permitted the entire class to effi ciently compare group answers to the task. Upon more careful analysis of the group secretaries’ answers on the board, the teacher made necessary error corrections and then provided students with the correct song lyrics on a separate handout. In the second task, the students were paired off and given a survey grid. In this last phase, they had to write any questions based on the topic of friendship, then interview other students, take notes, and report their fi ndings back to their new partners.

Self- Report QuestionnaireA 12-item, self-report questionnaire (see Appendix B) in English was

given to the 24 participants to obtain an objective view of their general beliefs on tasks related to their motivation. Out of the 24 participants, all surveys were completed and returned immediately after the lesson. We believed it was best to get the opinions of the students directly after the lesson, as their ability to recall the lesson tasks and sequences seemed optimal at that time. To accomplish this aim, the survey was divided into three sections to explore the following overreaching and interrelated concerns: (1) How our students generally felt about task ability related to perceived feelings of intrinsic motivation. (2) How our students felt about the aims of individual tasks sequenced in the lesson and their interest in completing the tasks. (3) How our students felt about the tasks in terms of positive and negative feelings, in other words, did our students like or dislike the tasks. Here, the attempt was to match those feelings to the affective component of the expectancy-value theory, not related to test anxiety, as this was not measured nor was data collected.One expedient reason for carrying out this research project was to

help the authors explore developing better tasks and proper sequencing stages for receptive music lesson plans. With better understanding of students’ feelings regarding tasks, this project sought out methods that will help L2 educators improve the effect of instruction on students’ language acquisition while taking into consideration their motivational concerns. Accordingly, we valued student opinions related to the expectancy-value theory model and were eager to learn how it could be correlated with the tasks sequenced in the lesson itself.


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MeasurementTo compare the students’ results relating tasks to intrinsic motivation,

an analysis of motivational level was imperative. Therefore a fi ve-point Likert Scale questionnaire (See Appendix C) was given to the same 24 students regarding their views of intrinsic motivation (e.g., “I think English is interesting”), resulting in 79% of the students exhibiting fa-vorable attitudes towards tasks prior to this study. The survey consisted of eight questions that attempted to elicit students’ motivational orien-tations to English in a general sense. We felt that it was necessary to acquire a pre-determined level of motivation students have towards English as this would have an effect on how they felt about doing the tasks sequenced in the lesson using English. For the self-report ques-tionnaire Part 3 (see Appendix B) we utilized the term ‘like,’ in favor of perhaps a more accurately descriptive term, because the survey was administered in English, believing students were using English to learn it. Thus, we surmised that students might generally have less diffi culty in gauging their responses.

ResultsThe self-report questionnaire results revealed that our students gener-

ally have a positive view towards the tasks they completed during the lesson. Nearly 75% of participants answered that they had high moti-vational orientation to the tasks sequenced in the receptive skills les-son. On the other hand, approximately 25% of those surveyed showed less motivational orientation to the same tasks. These fi gures cover the entire survey regarding students’ attitudes towards tasks related to the expectancy component (part 1), affective component (part 2) and val-ue component (part 3). Further detailed examination of the data, how-ever, portrayed more clearly students’ positive feelings to motivation in each section of the survey.

Results of Part 1: The Expectancy ComponentData collected on question 1 (See Figure 1) revealed that 82% of the

participants responded positively regarding whether feelings of high achievement—which we believe is indicative of whether or not they can effectively accomplish the task—had an effect on their expectations of task completion. Our results suggest that our students overwhelmingly believed that if they could do the tasks, they subsequently persisted until the goal of the task was accomplished. In contrast, participant


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responses to question 2 indicated that nearly 72% felt an inability to complete the tasks resulted in them giving up and not completing them. Question 3 seemed to support the theory that task ability is linked to motivation, as very few students (4.1%) that could complete the tasks felt like giving up. Last, only about 4.1% of the students who indicated that they could complete the tasks actually felt like not doing them. The implication of these fi gures suggests students who have high expectations regarding success on their abilities to perform the tasks also seem to be more motivated to complete them.

Results of Part 2: The Value ComponentDesign of this section of the self-report questionnaire chronologically

fi ts the questions to the tasks at the points in which they were intro-duced during the lesson (see Appendix A). In effect, we sequenced the tasks to facilitate learning, determining the complexity of individual tasks and then sequenced them to increase the ease of the “processing burden” (Ellis, 2003, p. 221) placed on our students. Based on the four questions regarding the opportunities to plan before they undertook the next task (see Figure 2), an overwhelmingly majority of participants (83%) felt that the sequencing helped them to perform the next task. In contrast, on average only about 8% of participants answered that it was either “Not at all true” or “A little true of me” when asked if the task facilitated the following language task sequenced in the lesson.

Figure 1. Self-report questionnaire results of expectancy component


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Results of Part 3: The Affective ComponentThe results of this section indicated that students generally held

positive feelings related to motivational factors that encouraged them to complete the tasks. Based on students’ self-perceived defi nition of the term “like,” 76% of our respondents held favorable opinions of the tasks and the relation to the next set of tasks. The only task that

Figure 2. Self-report questionnaire results of the value component

Figure 3. Self-report questionnaire results for affective component


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our students had negative feelings towards was the pre-task activity that included the movie poster discussion. Just over half the students (53%) did not like the task and notated that it did not motivate them to produce utterances. Although Dornyei (2001) emphasized the importance of presenting tasks in a way that motivates students, for this lesson students seemed to have rebounded in part as 91% liked the fi nal pre-written question/class survey completion task.

Refl ection on Quantitative AnalysisTwo important factors caused an effect on the results that should be

considered before continuing with the discussion. The fi rst point re-lates to the students’ prior experience with task-based lessons in other classes. Students chosen for this study have had ample exposure to Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which shares many commonalities with Task-Based Learning and Teaching (Gunning, 2007). Therefore, it is our assumption that students had already encountered some positive experiences that corresponded to their motivational levels in classes other than the required language courses. Second, based on the survey to measure their motivational levels, students measurements indicated a high motivational orientation towards tasks (79% of the students ex-hibiting favorable attitudes). Being the case, for this study and with some caution, we suggest that our students were already motivated to a certain extent.

DiscussionRegardless of our students’ already seemingly high motivational levels

and positive feelings towards tasks in an EFL context, two salient points emerged. First, fi ndings derived from this study suggest that it is prudent for teachers to take into consideration task complexity because some tasks may pose a greater cognitive burden on learners than other tasks (Ellis, 2003). From our perspective, it seemed that tasks designed and structured for this lesson (see Appendix A) were structured in such a way that students were able to create their own zones of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). The zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what she can do with help. In our study, it became apparent that tasks were used by students as tools to identify “where assistance could be profi tably provided in order to enable appropriate ZPDs to be created” (Ellis, 2003, p. 180). Since students were, in a


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sense, creating their own ZPDs, we were able to monitor them during the tasks and after completing them (data collected for this research), and conclude that tasks that extend beyond individual student levels may result in less motivation to complete them.One of the most often cited fi ndings from achievement motivation

research is that motivation is highest at levels of intermediate task diffi culty (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). Furthermore, the tasks were matched to their levels at representative of the next immediate stage (“+1 modeling/instruction”) and the tasks were not more than one stage above our students’ current level (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). Intermediate task complexity is important because designing tasks that are too easy or too diffi cult provide more information about the task than the individual students, whereas, tasks that are designed at an intermediate diffi culty tend to tell more about their capabilities and effort management (Weiner, 1992). This suggests the task we designed for our lesson matched to the expectancy component of Pintrich and De Groot’s (1990) model.Although diffi cult to measure, we felt that the level of complexity

designed into the tasks was a critical component in raising student mo-tivational orientation and self-regulation, resulting in a high number of students having positive feelings towards task performance. Locke (1996) summarized that one of the main fi ndings of research related to expectancy-value theories is that the more diffi cult the goal, the greater the achievement. Second, measuring student affective factors proved diffi cult as the results showed a clear difference in their affec-tive component regarding their feelings towards the fi rst task (pre-task activity: the photo talk) and the last task (the self-styled questions and class survey). Our students seem to have preferred individual planning time before working in pairs and groups. Unlike the last task they com-pleted (class survey), in the fi rst task (photo talk) we paired our students from the start and this coupled with very limited strategic planning for discourse, which we are assuming, may have led to their somewhat negative feelings. When looking at affective component so many other variables seem to infl uence how our students felt about the tasks such as individual leaner characteristics, personality, and aptitude. The expectancy model theory postulates that humans are motivated

to perform because of expectations of perceived rewards arising from that performance. While Pintrich and De Groot’s (1990) study focused largely on the notion of valence or motivational desire, our study


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brought about additional outcomes. In the Japanese EFL classroom, and within the context of a collective cultural background, the research conducted in this study revealed that perception of expectancy was indeed a main factor that promoted motivation among students. In retrospect, the tasks utilized for the receptive listening lessons

in this study capitalized on this cultural phenomenon. Readers will recollect that the tasks had a strong collaborative element that appeared to be a symbiotic fi t for Japanese students. In particular, the four corners simultaneous task stage when students performed a hand-numbing adventure in lyrical dictation seemed to open a new avenue of discussion on task diffi culty and perception. During this stage, it quickly became apparent that students felt a

sense of expectancy not just from themselves. More importantly, some students likely felt an element of pressure to perform from the close proximity of their three classmates as everyone was dictating identical lyrics on the same A4 sheet. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this notion of collaboration and teamwork created something we so often attempt to develop and nurture within the Japanese university classroom—a strong sense of student accountability involving task-based learning. In our classroom setting, since we explained to students the next forthcoming task, their sense of belonging—or perhaps trying to fi t in—to that particular group may have contributed toward heightened task performance. Based on the results of the questionnaires and our own observations of students completing the tasks, our students may have felt they did not want to let their classmates down or appear “off-task.” For higher-level students, the four corners simultaneous task stage

became a proving ground to showcase their superior language talents. At this stage of the lesson, they were usually elected group secretary and this status may have caused them to enhance their effort and performance through a higher sense of responsibility and dependency bestowed upon them by the other group members. In one of the largest-scale empirical research projects on social motivation and the microcontext (i.e. the immediate learning environment) of learning, McInerney, et al. (as cited in Dorynei, 2001) discovered that up to half of the factors related to motivation were socially determined such as competition with peers, positions of authority like group leadership, cooperation with peers, and the desire to receive praise from teachers and peers. For this reason, we believe further inquiry into combining


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collective and competitive tasks warrants additional research to help L2 educators determine new motivational techniques along with language learning tasks.

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Appendix ALesson Plan: In Tune with Receptive Listening

Topic: Friendship Class Level: Intermediate University

Focus of Lesson: Stand By Me: Listening/Speaking Time: 90 minutes

Possible Language Items: Suprasegmental phonology: Intonation, syllabic consonant as in tumble, crumble, reduced pronunciation: tumble and fall, crumble to the sea. Minimal pair pronunciation: R and L, crumble/climb. Synonyms: see/sea. Weak forms of that, but, night, and darling, stand (elisions: disappeared sounds, assimilations: phoneme realized as being different due to proximity near other phoneme: get them; Regressive Assimilation: changes along word lines-black dog as k changes to g). Language for sharing information: A majority of students feel that, some students feel that…

SWBAT: Students will be able to rewrite the song during the task cycle and focus on language items such as elisions, linked sounds and reduced consonant sounds during the rewrite. During the Focus on Language in the task cycle, the students will be able to discover the meaning of two metaphors: “the sky will tumble and fall” and “mountains should crumble to the sea.” Students will be able to discuss in small groups discoveries made during the survey.

StageTime/Interaction

Activity/Task Rational Materials

Photo Talk1-10S-S

Students paired. Discuss photo questions.

Schemata/Pre-taskCycle/Exposure

Photos of child characters from Stand By Me.

Photo Talk and Pair Share

10-12S-S

Students share information.

Leads to more production during the whole class activity

Photo TalkClass share

12-15T-Ss

Teacher elicits answers from students

Reason for doing the task. Share and circulate new vocabulary.

Listening 115-19S

Word Scramble Task—Four Corners Dictogloss

Higher level listening skill. Fun and interesting. Task Cycle

CD: Stand By Me.


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Rewrite20-25Ss-Ss

Rewrite song based on writings from all students in the group.

Sharing information. Reporting phase of task-cycle. Reason for scramble activity.

Listening 225-29Ss

Word Scramble 2

Task repetition enhances success of rewrite raising motivational levels in students. Fun and interesting.

Rewrite 229-35Ss-Ss

Students continue rewrite of the fi rst part.

Task repetition: access students’ ability to complete the task.

Complete the song Handout

35-45Ss

Students complete the handout for the song. Students look at rewrite and fi ll-in missing chunks.

AssessmentPrinted Song Handout.

Boardrush45-50Ss

Students choose someone to come to the board and write answers, groups must agree on the same answers.

Whole class activity to elicit without nominating one student.

Listening 3 50-54

Check board. Pairs working on meaning of metaphors.

Correct worksheet. Teach metaphors.

Communicative Activity. Writing

55-65Ss

Students write 5-6 questions based on friendship.

Pre-communicative task activity: scaffolding students. Teacher monitoring student’s writing.

Survey grid sheet.


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Class survey.65-80Ss-Ss

Students ask and answer questions.

Communicative task related to pre-writing activity.

Group Share80-90Ss-Ss

Students regroup and share their survey results with other students.

Reporting phase. Students report results of their mini surveys. Reasons for conducting the surveys.

Appendix BStudent survey on tasks.

Read each statement and select the answer that best matches how you felt about the task. You may use a dictionary or ask the teacher if you do not understand.

A. Not at all true of meB. A little true of me.C. Basically true of me.D. Very true of me.E. Absolutely true of me.

Part 1I was able to master most or all of the tasks so I felt like fi nishing them.I was not able to do the tasks very well but felt like fi nishing them.I was able to master most or all of the tasks but did not feel like fi nishing them.I was not able to master most or all of the tasks and did not feel like fi nishing them.

Part 2: Try to remember some of today’s activities and tasks. If you forget, please consult with a friend or ask the teacher.

The movie poster photo talk of the kids helped me get an idea of today’s topic.Writing the song words and phrases during the four-corner task helped me to listen carefully.Writing the lyrics (song words) to the song as a group helped me

1.

2.3.

4.

1.

2.

3.


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understand the meaning of new words and phrases which helped me understand the song better.The question and answer task during the survey helped me talk about my experiences more fl uently using English.

Part 3I liked the poster talk so felt motivated to speak in English.I liked listening to the song and writing down any words or phrases I knew.I liked rewriting the song in the center of the paper using information from everyone in our group.I liked writing the questions and then completing my self-made survey and reporting the results to my group.

Appendix CSelf-Report Questionnaire on perceived individual differences on motivation and the results

QuestionStrongly disagree

Disagree Uncertain AgreeStrongly

agree

I think English is interesting. 4.1% 4.1% 12.5% 58.3% 20.8%

I like to study English. 8.3% 8.3% 16.6% 25% 41.6%

I study English outside of class.

4.1% 4.1% 0% 62.5% 29.1%

I want to become a better speaker.

0% 0% 8.3% 50% 41.6%

I am interested in talking to foreigners.

0% 8.3% 25% 41.6% 25%

I think this class is important.

4.1% 12.5% 0% 4.1% 79.1%

I try to practice speaking English outside of class.

12.5% 16.6% 20.8% 33.3% 16.6%

4.

1.2.

3.

4.

Documents

OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 111-132 Feature Articlejaltcue.org/files/OnCUE/OCJ2-2articles/OCJ2-2-GQ-111-132.pdf · create a lesson that would utilize convergence goals or ... illustrated